The news story referred to an attempted fraud from an outfit purporting to be a department store chain from the UAE with a seemingly insatiable demand for Silverwood bakeware.

This week Alan Silverwood commercial manager Adam Simcox told www.HousewaresLive.net: “We can report that upon receipt of pro-forma invoices from two of our stockists, the UAE ‘customer’ informed our stockists that it had inadvertently wired over too much money (many times too much) and asked for the funds to be sent back.

“One stockist refused to send anything back until the sum was not only irrevocably in his own bank account but that the request for its return was received on a company letterhead.

“The reply our stockist received stated that the correspondent was the chief executive of the UAE company. Our stockist replied to say that it was unbelievable that the chief executive of a company with over 60 stores Gulf-wide would involve himself in such communications – and that it had been reported to the Fraud Department of the Metropolitan Police.”

Adam added that nothing has been heard since – either from the UAE ‘customer’ or the Metropolitan Police.